An Introduction

1. An Introduction

2. An Introduction to Forrest Gump • Released : June 23, 1994 • Genre:Comedy / Drama / Romance • Runtime: 141 mins • Awards: Won 6 Oscars for: • Best Writing (Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium) • Best Film Editing, • Best Director, Robert Zemeckis • Best Picture, • Best Actor in a Leading Role, Tom Hanks • Best Effects (Visual Effects)

3. Winston Groom • The film is based on the novel of the same name by Winston Groom. • Forrest Gump was published in 1986; however, it did not make Groom a best-selling author until it was adapted into a film. • Groom is a native of Alabama and served in the Army during the Vietnam War. • According Winston Groom, John Goodman was the perfect Forrest Gump in his mind.

4. Winston Groom • Following the success of the movie, Winston Groom wrote a sequel novel, 'Gump & Co.' (1995), which referenced the movie as if it had been released in Forrest's world (he mentions that the movie was inaccurate - that is, compared to the first novel's canon - and brought him unwanted press attention). Forrest also meets Tom Hanks in the novel.

5. Significant Historical Events Depicted in the Film • Ku Klux Klan • Desegregation • Civil Rights • Vietnam War • The assassination of J.F. Kennedy • Ping Pong Diplomacy • Watergate Scandal • Land on the moon • AIDS appeared in U.S.A

6. Celebrities Depicted in the Film • General Nathan Bedford Forrest • Elvis Presley • John Lennon & Beatles • Bob Dylan • Marilyn Monroe • J. F. Kennedy • Lyndon Johnson • Richard Nixon • Jimmy Carter • Chairman Mao

7. Ku Klux Klan • A secret society of white Southerners • Founded during Reconstruction after the Civil War • resist the emancipation (setting free) of slaves • dedicated to the supremacy of white people • opposed to equal rights for black people • often engaged in violence against blacks

8. KKK • In the movie, Forrest Gump claims that his mother named him after Civil war hero, Nathan Bedford Forrest. This man was the person who founded the Klu Klux Klan during the 1800's. In the movie, Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump is actually superimposed onto a picture from the film, Birth of a Nation of Nathan Bedford Forrest as can be seen in the picture on the left.

9. Desegregation at UA • The Stand in the Schoolhouse Door took place at Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama on June 11, 1963. George Wallace, the Governor of Alabama, in a symbolic attempt to keep his inaugural promise of “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever" and stop the desegregation of schools, stood at the door of the auditorium to try to block the entry of two black students, Vivian Malone Jones and James Hood.

10. Civil Rights Movement • Black Freedom Movement / Negro Revolution / Second Reconstruction • Political, legal, and social struggle. The purpose was to gain full citizenship rights and racial equality. • Began with the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955 and ended with the Voting Rights Act in 1965.

11. Civil Rights Movement In the movie, Jenny takes Forrest Gump to a meeting of the Black Panther Party. The Black Panther Party was an African American revolutionary leftist organization from 1966-1982. • Robert Zemeckis decided to leave out several planned effects shots. One shot in particular involved Forrest running into Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his supporters. Forrest distracts several dogs trying to attack King and his supporters by playing fetch with them and rendering them harmless to King and himself as well as his supporters.

12. Vietnam War---America's Longest War War North Vietnamese & National Liberation Front (NLF) United States forces & South Vietnamese army VS non-Communist Vietnamese Vietnamese Communists Fear of spread of Communism Vietnam was reunified in 1975 defeated by North Vietnamese

13. Vietnam War • The scenes of Vietnam were filmed on Fripp Island in South Carolina.

14. Anti-Vietnam War Movement • Demonstrations and marches by college students, elected politicians, clergy, etc. in protest over American involvement in Vietnam. • The 'March on the Pentagon' in October 1967 drew over 50,000 protestors and marked the beginning of large-scale anti-war protests.

15. Vietnam War • When Forrest gets up to talk at the Vietnam rally in Washington, the microphone plug is pulled and you cannot hear him. According to Tom Hanks, he says, "Sometimes when people go to Vietnam, they go home to their mommas without any legs. Sometimes they don't go home at all. That's a bad thing. That's all I have to say about that."

16. Ping Pong Diplomacy • In the movie, Forrest Gump becomes very adept at playing ping pong. In fact, he is so good that he is asked to play on the American team against the Chinese. This is a clear parallel to the term Ping Pong Diplomacy which was used between the Americans and the Chinese. The term comes from an incident when American Ping Pong player, Glenn Cowan missed his team bus during the 31st World Table Tennis Championship. • He was forced to take the Chinese team bus where he talked with Zhuang Zhedong through an interpreter. Soon after it was agreed that the American table tennis team would also be used for foreign affairs by playing with members of the Chinese team. This soon became known as Ping Pong Diplomacy.

17. Watergate • In the movie, Forrest Gump witnesses the Watergate Scandal from the Watergate hotel. The Watergate scandal was a political scandal during the 1970's which involved a break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Office Complex in Washington D.C. After investigation it was revealed that President Nixon was aware of the break-in It was also revealed that several members of the Committee to Re-elect the President had participated in this break-in. Further Investigation revealed that every conversation in the oval office was taped and that Nixon was supposed to hand over those tapes. Nixon did hand them over but it was found that there were huge gaps in the tapes and that Nixon had not provided the full evidence. Soon after the investigation Nixon resigned as President of the United States.

18. Watergate • Attention to detail: When Gump calls to report the Watergate burglary, the security guard answering the phone says, "Security, Frank Wills." He was the actual guard on duty during that night, and he was the person who discovered the break-in, on Saturday, June 17th, 1972.

19. Running Man The running scene was inspired by an actual event. In 1982, Louis Michael Figueroa, aged 16, ran from New Jersey to San Francisco for the American Cancer Society, unknowingly inspiring a line for Forrest Gump's famous run on the silver screen. "I just put one foot in front of the other," it goes. "When I get tired I sleep. When I get hungry I eat. When I have to go to the bathroom, I go."

20. Smiley Face • In the movie, a man asks Forrest Gump for ideas forT-shirt designs. Forrest Gump wipes his muddy face on a T-shirt and the movie shows a smiley face on the T-shirt. It was during the 1970's that the smiley face was invented to show a stylized representation of a smiling human face. It is also attributed with the quote "Have a Nice Day!"

21. HIV/AIDS • The condition that Jenny was being treated for at the end of the movie was probably HIV. She says in the movie that the doctors do not know what the virus is and that they can do nothing about it. She mentions that she is being treated in Atlanta; the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta did some of the first US research on the epidemiology and treatment of HIV/AIDS; and the time that she died was the time the virus was first being discovered.

22. Marilyn Monroe • Hollywood Film star of the 50s and 60s. Said to have been involved with President Kennedy and his brother. Died mysteriously at the age of 36. The movie alludes to this relationship when Forrest visits the White House.

23. Elvis Presley Rock ‘n’ Roll began with Elvis in mid-50s. He defined the genre and give it its power. Known the world over by his name, he is regarded as one of the most important figures of twentieth century popular culture. In the movie Elvis Presley comes to stay at the Boarding Home that the Gumps run. Young Forrest dances in a very odd way while Elvis plays the guitar. This eventually inspires Elvis Presley to find new dance moves similar to those that Forrest showed him.

24. John Lennon • As a member of The Beatles, Lennon had a profound influence on rock and roll and in expanding the genre's boundaries during the 1960s. He is widely considered, along with fellow-writing partner Paul McCartney, as one of the most influential singer-songwriter-musicians of the 20th century. Of the two, Lennon is generally viewed as the better lyricist, while McCartney is seen as the more accomplished composer. In the movie Forrest Gump is asked to sit in on a television interview with John Lennon.

25. Imagine • Imagine there's no Heaven It's easy if you try No hell below us Above us only sky Imagine all the people Living for today • Imagine there's no countries It isn't hard to do Nothing to kill or die for And no religion too Imagine all the people Living life in peace • You may say that I'm a dreamer But I'm not the only one I hope someday you'll join us And the world will be as one • Imagine no possessions I wonder if you can No need for greed or hunger A brotherhood of man Imagine all the people Sharing all the world • You may say that I'm a dreamer But I'm not the only one I hope someday you'll join us And the world will live as one • Almost all of Lennon’s dialogue in the film is from this song.

26. Other Trivia • With every transition of Forrest's age, one thing remains the same- in the first scene of each transition he wears a blue plaid shirt. • When Forrest first learns to play ping-pong in the infirmary, he is told the trick is to "keep his eye on the ball" by another soldier. After that moment, whenever he is shown playing ping-pong, he never blinks. • Bill Murray, John Travolta and Chevy Chase turned down the role of Forrest Gump. Travolta later admitted that passing on the role was a mistake. • Gary Sinise’s lower legs were wrapped in a special blue fabric that allowed them to be digitally removed later. • During the ping-pong matches, there was no ball; it was entirely CGI, animated to meet the actors' paddles. • David Alan Grier, Ice Cube and Dave Chapelleturned down the role of Bubba. Chappelle thought the movie would bomb, and has since admitted to deeply regretting not taking the role • While playing at the nightclub, Jenny goes under the name of Bobbie Dylan. The song she sings is "Blowin' In The Wind" by Bob Dylan.

27. Memorable Quotes • Hi, I’m Forrest, Forrest Gump.(Tom Hanks made up this line, the director loved and kept it in the movie) • Life is like a box of chocolate, you never know what you’re gonna get. • Stupid is as stupid does. • Bubba was my best good friend, and even I know that ain’t something you can find just around the corner.

28. Boy, I heard some whopper in my time, but that tops them all. Ha ha ha ha! • Death is part of life. Something we are all destined to do. • From that day on, we was always together. Jenny and I was like peas and carrots. • For some reason, Ping-pong came very natural to me. • Yes, sir. A promise is a promise, Lieutenant Dan.